Aleksandra Golovkina

Aleksandra Golovkina (born 1 July 1998) is a Lithuanian figure skater. She is the gold medalist of the Tayside Trophy 2023 and a six-time Lithuanian national champion (2012, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2023). She has competed in four European Championships and two World Championships.
Career
Golovkina competed internationally on the novice level from 2008-09 to 2011-12. Her ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut came in August 2012. In March 2013, she competed at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan but was eliminated after placing 39th in the short program.
Golovkina began the 2013-14 season on the JGP series, placing 16th in Estonia. In November 2013, she won the junior bronze medal at the NRW Trophy before making her senior international debut at the Warsaw Cup; she placed 9th in the short program, 1st in the free skate, and 4th overall in Warsaw. Continuing on the senior level, she finished 4th at the 2014 Toruń Cup and 5th at the Hellmut Seibt Memorial.
In the 2014-15 season, Golovkina competed at one JGP event and then won her first senior international medal, silver, at the Ice Star in Minsk, Belarus. In November 2014, she began competing on the ISU Challenger Series (CS), placing 5th at the Volvo Open Cup before taking bronze at the Warsaw Cup. She placed 7th at her final CS event, the 2014 Golden Spin of Zagreb. Golovkina was named in Lithuania's team to the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. Ranked 23rd in the short program, she qualified for the free skate, where she placed 17th, lifting her to 19th overall.
During the 2015-16 season, Aleksandra Golovkina clinched her second Lithuanian Championship title and secured her second consecutive silver medal at the Ice Star competition in Minsk, Belarus. Subsequently, she earned the privilege to represent Lithuania at the European Championships, finishing in the 16th position. Golovkina also participated in the World Championships, landing in 33rd place.
The 2016-17 season saw Golovkina competing in four distinct events, with her most notable achievement being a 9th place finish in Nice.
In the 2017-18 season, Golovkina faced adversity as she sustained an injury that required leg tendon surgery, preventing her from participating in most competitions that year. However, she made a valiant attempt to qualify for the Olympics at the Nebelhorn Trophy competition in Oberstdorf, Germany, towards the end of the season.
Following her Nebelhorn Trophy endeavor, during the 2018-19 season, Golovkina decided to conclude her ice skating career. She relocated to Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, where she commenced her studies in Sports, Exercise, and Nutrition. That same year, she resumed skating at the Whitley Bay ice rink and began training under the guidance of her coach, David Richardson.
Golovkina made a comeback to the sport in the 2019-20 season after an absence of a year and a half. She achieved remarkable results with a 3rd place finish in the Tayside Trophy and a 7th place finish in the Torun Cup. Additionally, she competed in the European Championship, securing the 26th position. In the same season, Golovkina clinched her third Lithuanian Championship title.
The 2020-21 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the same year, Aleksandra decided to relocate to Dundee, Scotland, and train there.
The 2021-22 season witnessed Golovkina's strongest performance in the Tayside Trophy competition in Dundee, Scotland, where she finished in 4th place. Later in the same year, she competed in the European Championship in Tallinn, Estonia, advancing to the free program after an exceptional short program and finishing in 22nd place. Golovkina also added her fourth Lithuanian Championship title to her accolades.
The 2022-23 season marked the pinnacle of Golovkina's career, with her achieving a personal best score of 157.42. She delivered her best short program performance at the Warsaw Cup, earning a score of 55.49, and her best free program at the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, where she received a score of 103.41. Golovkina concluded the year with a 3rd place finish in the Crystal Skate competition in Bucharest, Romania, and a 5th place finish in the Tayside Trophy competition in Dundee. She also secured her fifth Lithuanian Championship title. Regrettably, a hamstring injury forced her to withdraw from two of the season's most significant competitions, the European Championships and the Universiade in Lake Placid, United States.
The 2023-24 season commenced with Golovkina participating in the competition in Bratislava, Slovakia, where she finished in 11th place. A few weeks later, she celebrated her first senior competition victory at the Tayside Trophy, where she achieved a score of 151.23 and secured the 1st place position. Later in the same month, Aleksandra accomplished another great result at the Swiss Ice Skating Open 2023 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she placed 2nd.
Programs
Competitive highlights
CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
2012–13 to present
2008–09 to 2011–12
References
External links
1998 births
Living people
Lithuanian female single skaters
Sportspeople from Vilnius
21st-century Lithuanian women